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DROID DNA Owners, How’s Your Battery Holding Up?

There have been many who question HTC’s placement of a 2,020 mAh battery inside of the new DROID DNA. Reviews from all over the web have shown nothing but mixed feelings toward it – some giving it terrible marks, while others gave it rather good ratings, including ours. What reviews sometimes lack is real world experience, which we know we can rely on our community for.

If you are the owner of a DROID DNA, let us know down below if your battery is getting you through a day of activity. If it can withstand a holiday weekend, we are sure it can hold up to anything. Feel free to go into detail on usage and if you would recommend the device to fellow readers. For some, the battery life is essentially the only thing that could hold them back from snatching it up.

Cheers D!

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I’m getting about 16-18 hours or so. So far I’ve been off the charger since 4:30a, Streamed Google music for over an hour at the gym, usual work flow, 2pm now and I just tossed it on the wireless charger at 60% so it’s full when I leave. Probably a little over 2hr of screen on time today.

The most important thing: AMAZING radios and signal strength. All the dead zones I got on the G-Nexus and S3 with 4G, have 4 bars of LTE on the DNA. It’s incredibly refreshing, I’d gotten used to just how bad Samsung’s radios really are.

wickets

“AMAZING radios and signal strength.”

Good to hear…the reviews about signal were mediocre. Thanks for mentioning it

ciscore

I noticed the great radios as well. Pleasantly surprised!

http://www.ashevilletechnologyservices.com Dan Brown

Do the DNA and GS3 not have the same radios? Both Qualcomm snapdragon SOC, even though a generation apart.

awm

Yes, Radio much better than my S3; however, battery is not working too well for me…especially when I’m using constantly googling and ebaying.

Yep

I’m more interested to see what former Bolt owners who have jumped on the DNA will have to say (not that the larger community’s input isn’t appreciated – it’s just that former Bolt owners share a bond, having suffered through such a horrible device.)

Mine is holding up great, got over 48 hours on a charge over the weekend, that was with little to no use, however it was in a area that it was switching between 1x and 3g the whole time.

Doesn’t even compare to the battery on my old Thunderbolt.

http://twitter.com/ITGuy11 Shawn Villaire

Much better than my GNex!. I can easily make it through a full day with moderate usage (3 hours screen on time) and still be at 30%. This is exclusively on LTE. I don’t use wifi on my phones, I want to suck every bit of unlimited data from big red as I can. The battery has exceeded my expectations so far.

steve machowsky

how do you still have unlimited data on verizon 4g?

LionStone

Many of us still do, we were Grandfathered into it.

ash

battery comparison. ive had at some point in time all 3 of these devices. The dna is much better than gnex. Almost identical to the gs3. Never had the maxx but obviously its not gonna be as good. The dna is a beast though. Would totally recommend it to anyone who likes big phones

http://twitter.com/BatsShadow Scott Webber

I am definitely a lighter than average user, but my DNA battery seems to be holding up very well, probably similar or slightly better than my previous Galaxy Nexus.

I love this device, and I haven’t even rooted it yet. The only downsides are some of the Sense features. As soon as some AOSP-ish ROMs are available, I’ll love it even more.

Bionicman

“..probably similar or slightly better than my previous Galaxy Nexus” that is exactly why i’m not getting it :/

http://twitter.com/BatsShadow Scott Webber

Well, after a few more days, I would say it’s probably significantly better than the GNex. I still haven’t had a super heavy usage day (which are rare for me), but I’m definitely seeing much more battery left at the end of the day. I’m impressed with the battery so far.

And the performance and screen are just flat out amazing!

zUFC

Not bad actually. I said I would never get it but I did. I would say it’s just like my S3 was. Which is plenty exceptable. HTC finally made a phone with decent battery!!! Don’t get me wrong, they could of done better but at least it’s decent enough to actually call it a good cell phone. P.S. I think reception is great! kellex didn’t like it but it’s been on par with my Maxx so far. The same dead spots I had with my Sammy’s that disappeared with the Maxx are still gone with the DNA. Call quality is crystal clear also. Not a bad phone.

zUFC

Oh to be fair I should say i have Google Now turned off though. I’m afraid that will destroy the decent batt life. A few more days of normal use then i’ll try it with it on. Anybody using google now on the DNA. And if so does it effect batt at all?

LionStone

No, no, no, take it back! 😉 I kid…anyway, I have enabled Google Now on first set up and I’m getting great battery life. And since I am getting great battery life, I see no reason not to have Google Now enabled…it is very useful. Enjoy!

http://androidtaskforce.com/ Chris Gustafson

Not an owner, but have been using one exclusively since Friday and can say that it is just as good as the Verizon Galaxy S III.

http://www.hammertechnologies.net/ Chase Johnson

a bit off topic but i think bigger batteries are a scam. i replaced the battery in my R2D2 with a 1800 mAh and it still drains just as fast as the one that come with it.

Danrarbc

You can measure capacity in different ways, and with different sample sizes. A third party battery in particular is likely to use the most lax of measurements. Also, if you don’t follow good practices in use you can still kill a MAXX in hours.

MatthewSimmons

Mine is lasting around 12 hours, screen on full. But I have had it last upwards of 15 hours.

I’m actually pretty impressed with the battery life considering the screen and the relatively small battery size. I was expecting it to be appalling but it’s pretty good. However I’ll soon be moving to a 4G area and expect these battery numbers to fall off a cliff when I’m using only 4G.

LionStone

That battery app really used a lot of battery on my phones so I uninstalled it. Also, I have not found 4G to be a major battery drain. In fact, there are hardly any areas where I frequent that are 3G, so I’m always in 4G and I never turn it off and the battery life I get is 12-15 hrs easy. 4G is not the battery sucking culprit it was a while ago.

Dan

Come on guys. SCREEN ON TIME….

Cee

Battery is holding up very well for me. Using phone for work email, playing music and some texting. Haven’t charged it since 5AM and currently at 63%

http://twitter.com/JLC411 JLC

I have mine on full brightness and it lasts me all day with heavy use (streaming youtube, listening to music, interenet etc.) I will not have to charge it until around 9pm and I am up at 5 am. I would of needed to charge my Nexus at least 3 times during that time span. I am very happy with the battery.

valium12

I came off of Gnex with extended battery. The DNA is markedly better. Like clockwork every day by 8:00 Pm Gnex would die. Using DNA the exact same way for 4 days, and it is at 40% or more at that time each day. This phone is lighter, faster, feels better in the hand, and the screen is not only gorgeous, but the feel of the glass is smooth as teflon. First HTC phone I ever have owned, and I am very impressed with it. The battery life is a simple non issue for me.

http://twitter.com/SuperBigBlack Jason James

you mean a newer phone is faster than an older one? who would have known! jkjk.

valium12

True that. But damn – its not even close!!!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ronn-Plae/100001409114986 Ronn Plae

SUCKS, BUT I LOVE MY DNA!!

Spider210

i’m curious, does anyone have the wireless charger? how quickly does that charge the phone in comparison to being plugged in?

valium12

I have the Nokia Wireless Charger. It charges it from 30% to full in about 3 hours. Works very nicely.

zepfloyd

I have a Nokia Qi charger, it charges about as fast as the wall it seems, thought charging in a USB port on the computer seems to be very slow for me (more so than other phones)

Joel

I have a Energizer Qi charger and it works like a charm. I think the times are comparable between wireless and chord.

DizzyOneCheck

Posting from my DNA right now – been unplugged since 7am ct, at 85% battery now at 12:30. Usage was light sms including sending and receiving pictures, gmail and facebook use. 4g service can be week in my office building so this includes some searching for signal. So far very happy, although I came from a thunderbolt so battery would be 50-60% by now.

Eric Yang

anything is better than the thunderbolt.

Sam

Or the Galaxy Nexus.

AlmostaDr

12 hours with 38% left with checking facebook updates and texting a couple times of hour! great so far

Eric

I have had mine since day one and absolutely live it. Coming from a gnex this is by far a superior device. I like some of the sense 4 additions over stock and the battery is on par with the S3 AND MY WIFES RAZR HD.

duke69111

what amount of screen on time on 4g are people getting?

mende

on 4G I am getting about 14 hours worth

Bionicman

sorry there is noooo way you are getting 14 hours screen time. i think you meant total phone time. i dont even think the droid razr maxx gets 14 hours hehe

duke69111

14 hours with the screen on the entire time? I don’t think that’s quite right.

ac

I love this phone…. i have not enjoyed a phone this much since my galaxy nexus. I was concerned about battery. But after a few days of use the battery turns out to be excellent. Was on an 8hr road trip and it lasted all the way through with video, music, internet, downloads and games etc

Aaron

It was horrible the first couple of days, but after charging it from 0% a couple of times the battery is actually pretty good.

AntimonyER

Very satisfied with the battery life. 2020 mAh with SLCD 3, Quad core, and decent radios is lasting twice as long as my 2100 mAh in my GNex!

Brian Gazaway

Coming from the Thunderbolt the battery life is amazing. I can go all day without charging, and that’s using navi., playing games and using up all of it’s awesomeness. I can get about 15hours and be left with 30-40% at the end of the day.

Eric Yang

Isn’t it amazing how HTC time the thunderbolt and HTC DNA launch, so that users that is moving from the thunderbolt to the DNA accept the moderate battery as a great battery… I still have a thunderbolt…

I could settle for that. 3+ hours of screen on time with a total battery time of 27.5+ hours.

http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.philip.rogers Jonathan Rogers

Off topic I know but had to share.

John Simonelli

That’s terrible, but awesome at the same time. Haha

Guest

It was on my news feed on Facebook lol

nightscout13

LMFAO That’s funny right there….. from reddit?

jikhead

nice.

http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.philip.rogers Jonathan Rogers

Someone shared it on facebook. Truth be known origenated from reddit though.

Guest

Off topic I know but had to share. In recent news…

Korey Page

10-12 hours with moderate heavy use (twitter posting, phone calls for about 1-2+ total for the day, random browsing when I could just look it up from my computer, messaging about 40-50 times….well this could be considered heavy)

Pretty good because I have yet to get down to 10% before I plug it in to charge. I am impressed. I might keep the phone now. And using micro usb to usb adapter is a great option because of limited storage.

http://twitter.com/ryrho22 Ryan Rhodes

I’m getting amazing battery life. My nexus had an extended battery and did so much worse than this. I can actually go all day without charging!!!

Joseph

starting at 100% and with heavy use, 4g on, low screen brightness, and all sync on its at 63%. way better than my gnex.

ash

if people are looking for a “great battery” get a note 2 or a razr maxx. If people want a sick phone with a pretty good battery,buy the dna

Eric Yang

This is spot on; I was deciding between the DNA and the Note 2, and decided to go with the Note 2. I just can’t bare dealing with this phone six months from now the battery doesn’t perform like it is out of the box.

cooksta32676

It’s amazing to see the difference between my hands holding it and Lebron holding it in the commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/kimirPORTALS kimir

That’s what she said.

Fattie McDoogles

hahahahahaha well played

billy routh

The note 2 battery is awesome I get 24 hours with about 7 hrs of sreen on time.

coolsilver

I can fix software by rooting. Can’t fix terrible battery performance unless it is the software.

Anon

probably because you’ve never heard of conditioning lol

michael arazan

Note 2 with split screens and nice screen Knew they were going to need power and that’s why they had the foresight to put a bigass battery in it.

Damented

I go 22 -23hrs without charge and still have 30-33% battery left… Lovin it

So far, so good. I had a good mix of WiFi and 4G use yesterday, along with some pretty heavy usage, and was able to get 11 hours out of it before charging. So far today, all 4G use…social networking, GMail, Exchange push email, phone calls and texting…and I’m at 66% life left since a full charge at 7am. I can’t complain.

http://www.facebook.com/andrew.alf Andrew de la Torre

Much better than expected for having this massive beautiful screen!

https://twitter.com/paladaxar Paladaxar

Can we get a post asking “how’s your N4 battery lasting?”?

I’m pretty curious about that one since it’s not removable

Will Stager

Great. Probably one of the few people that bought this phone as a previous thunderbolt owner, but i took a risk and it’s paying off so far! Played several hours of games on it yesterday and it made it through with ease. 10 times better than my Tbolt.

http://thebeeobee.com/ thebeeobee

LOL, silly rabbit, nobody buys HTC phones.

Joel

Absolutely love this phone and the battery has been good to me. I am currently at 90% battery after three hours since I left the house this morning. Moderate use so far to check emails, some basic internet, and a few texts. I am in Denver so I am on LTE the whole time. The phone easily lasts an entire day. Love it

gujupmp88

anyway to get the screen on time?? I’m not saying that isnt great battery, but everyone’s “low”, “moderate” and “heavy” use descriptions are different. to me, what you described would be pretty low use. Moderate use for me would be at phone calls, internet browsing, emails and text. more than a few for each category.
so what is the actual talk time and screen on time?

moew

Ask HTC why they removed it from JB! Gsam from the store will show it.

gujupmp88

seriously? that seems like a stupid feature to remove…

rodney11ride

too funny…. nobody bought one yet?

dennis

Got the phone on friday and the battery is actually doing amazingly well I havent had to recharge it really love the phone overall

Bolton Alford

A heck of a lot better than I expected. Never got 4+ hours of screen on time with my Galaxy Nexus, and that is with WiFi OFF!

John

Post screen shots too (include screen ontime/idle/ etc)

ernie

I’m aware of GSAM Battery Monitor, but what other ways are there of measuring/showing screen on time?

John

I was just referring to taking a screenshot in Settings > Battery > selecting Screen percentage goes to another screen that shows Time on in minutes

Ernie

Thanks. Didn’t realize I could do that. Good to know!

will bartlett

settings->battery->screen

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=726049039 Ian S Ximinies

So far i have not had to plug it into a charger with it under 20% percent in battery. Facebook, Twitter, a Gmail account with everything syncing, another Gmail account just syncing email, and an exchange email account syncing email and calendars, pulling from the exchange server every hour. About 50 to 100 txts messages a day, heavy internet surfing, and maybe an hour of phone calls a day. No battery issues here so far….my only complaint has been that the first two days i had it, i got a no sim error and had to reboot. Also i am in a 4g lte area almost always….

http://www.facebook.com/kittensonaplane Tobi-Wan Bialas

leaving for work at 2 and coming home at 12 i have about 5% battery left. it gets teh job done, but damn does it cut it close. going to try turning mobile data off when im not using it today.

http://www.droid-life.com/ Tim-o-tato

It is my opinion you shouldn’t have to turn off mobile data just so your phone can last through a day’s usage. That’s not good. Sorry to hear about that!

http://www.facebook.com/kittensonaplane Tobi-Wan Bialas

i work in a hospital and there are a lot of times that i am underground/in shielded rooms so thats why i am going to turn mobile data off, or airplane mode, just for when i am in those areas. I had a gnex and went through 2-3 extendeds in a day, so this is heaven for me so far.

http://www.droid-life.com/ Tim-o-tato

Well that makes sense then!

Buckeye71086

*Sense

http://www.droid-life.com/ Tim-o-tato

lolz

cooksta32676

Sense…good one.

Sobr0801

I used to do that with my rezound, now with my lumia 920 i generally go a day and a half between charges

http://twitter.com/mxfox408 Jake Fox

I still have my Rezound, I recently went to California metal fest and I had to turn off LTE just so my battery can last throughout the day of taking tons of pix, went thru 2 standard batteries and halfway through one extended. since you cannot change the DNAs battery I wonder how that would end up.

Sobr0801

I now appreciate having a battery I don’t have to worry about.

Brent372

Would be time for a external rechargable (solar) battery instead of buying just another battery to swap into the phonr.

http://twitter.com/JayGood259Ozz Kris

Great opinion,but no logic. Why not shut of something you are not using to preserve battery? I’ve been using airplane mode more and more and batteries lay longer and longer. As we all know switching radios is what sucks battery dry,that and4gin general. What it’s wrong with turning data off of you know you won’t look at it for an hour our two? I agree with the essence of your thoughts but battery life is simply not that great on any phone except maybe the razor max. How inconvenient is it to touch a data toggle?

http://www.droid-life.com/ Tim-o-tato

If you’re like me and need your phone to be a phone 24/7 w/o switching off data, then that’s the logic. If you don’t need it, then don’t use it. That’s fine!

http://twitter.com/JayGood259Ozz Kris

I agree, what phones battery gets you through an entire day tho?

http://www.droid-life.com/ Tim-o-tato

A phone with a big battery would do that lol

For example, Galaxy S3 does it with ease. Galaxy Note 2 also. Galaxy Nexus w/ extended battery. One X. DROID RAZR lineup does. Again, it always depends on how you use the phone, but there are plenty of devices out there that can get through a full day.

LionStone

Just to clarify: if you turn off Mobile Data, the phone will still work as a phone. You can still make/receive calls, send/receive text messages and send/receive mms messages. If a person needs their phone to be a computer too, then leave Mobile Data On so everything syncs and stays updated.

schoat333

Can you post more details What were you using it for? screen on time? 4G 3G or wifi? etc

http://www.facebook.com/kittensonaplane Tobi-Wan Bialas

work at a hosital so signal can be shoddy in certain rooms or underground, last few days have been slow so i have been heavy use of reddit/spacebook. i have not seen a screen on time in the battery usage details yet,else i would post it. some. about 500mb worth a data over 4g during the day

Nick

Really good. Compared to my original DINC, the DNA lasts all day with moderate use. However, I got my first 50% data warning but that is another story.

Colton Wilburn

My battery is performing pretty admirably for me. Lasts all day for me, using navigation for a little, Wifi and 4G on, several hours of screen on time.

u sammy fanboys are out of control. You guys are just as bad as isheep

http://www.droid-life.com/ Tim-o-tato

Oh stop. I thought it was funny! It’s all Android 😛

Octotron

Stop being reasonable, Tim.

angel maldonado

you take it so seriously, it’s just a joke, i dont even own the note 2

joe bob

I do, and you’re right!

ApplesNAndroids

They are sheep.

nightscout13

Oh i see, either you follow a niche manufacturer, or you are a sheep. Since when is that? Samsung just happens to be the most successful Android OEM at the moment, but in 2 years it my be someone else. The enemy is Apple, not Samsung.

ApplesNAndroids

Well, here’s “that” guy everybody.

Colton Wilburn

Was that worth posting twice?

Liquidretro

This is a great idea for a post. I am really interested in what the real world use is. I think I have it down to the DNA or an S3.

Drooooid

I think I’m gonna hold off for the S4! May be a 6-7 month wait though…

Liquidretro

If I had a newer phone I am using now I would too. I am still rocking my old Droid X. LOL.

Symbiotx

Haha man, I’m in the same boat. My DNA comes today though!

cooksta32676

Ditto….probably will jump on the Note2.

geocab

I am also rocking a DX, by throwing rocks at it. I hate this thing. Been buggy for me ever since Verizon’s first update for it. Been through 4 of them because the headphone jack broke on all 4. I’m still leaning Note 2, but the majority saying they are getting good battery life is going to make me look at the DNA this Friday.

Danrarbc

The only thing the S4 would have over this is an Exynos 5 series chip, and possibly an SD slot. Is that worth the wait for you?

Drooooid

and a 13MP camera. Its also rumored to have a Super AMOLED screen. Not sure what screen the DNA is. I still have the LTE Galaxy Nexus running 4.2 with no issues so far. It’s the first phone that I’ve had for a while without the urge to upgrade to something else.

cooksta32676

Most likely a 1080 display also.

Dr. Mark Lipschitz

Any AMOLED screen would kill it for me. I am not sure how Samsung users go from looking at their LCD computer monitor, tablets and TVs and think that a dim blue screen looks good. Please save the “but the blacks look great” comment.

Danrarbc

DNA is a 1080p Super LCD 3. The first generation Super AMOLED at 1080p will be Pentile. And a 13mp camera doesn’t entice me unless it’s a different sensor than what we’ve seen so far – the 8mp sensors take better photos.

ash

i got to say its pretty darn good. I had a gs3 for 2 weeks and i can say its very comparable to that.

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